Of Warts and Wand Waving
by Lunary Canary
Summary: Austin's a Troll, Ally's a Witch princess. She lives in wealth and luxury, he lives in squalor. She is forbidden to dabble in the dark—he disgusts people with his looks and what he is. Two worlds walls apart collide for the worst, and buried tension between their species is uprooted from the past. Will either survive in the hostility? DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter One

_There are two sides to the kingdom of Havana—the side of dark magic, and the side of light magic. As unofficial princess of Havana, Ally's destiny to magic is to that of the light side. When she finds the courage to delve into the dark, will she be able to handle the percussions that come with it? How about the troll Austin, who's fallen for the mystic way she can strum a piano?_

* * *

Chapter One  
_Primus_

* * *

Austin did not always enjoy being born into the world as the son of trolls.

Many disadvantages came with being a species normally associated with grotesque, ugly personifications. For example, he always woke in the morning with spotty, lumpy, slimy skin that soaked through his night linens. He lived in a small ovular shack with a clan of possibly seven members—sometimes eight when his best friend Dez elbowed his way into a seat at the table during mealtime. Austin also loathed that his nose was just so _ugly_. He's seen other men's noses, and those who don't have troll in their blood always had perfect thinly defined noses with ambiguous bridges. The only thing Austin liked about his nose was that he could balance a small thumb of a tomato on it.

The appearance of being a troll was not the only deterrent to his life plans. Austin enjoyed visiting the nearby witch kingdom of Havana about 30 minutes from the edge of the forest where the clans of trolls lived. Havana was inhabited by thousands and thousands of magic-wielding beings who could disintegrate him in the flick of a wand. Other than that horrible fate he could meet, trolls were also largely discriminated amongst the witch populace. No one liked trolls. Trolls were ugly, barbaric, unethical, stubborn, clumsy, and destructive in their eyes.

Currently Austin walked among the witches through the networking cobblestone paths of the lower Havana district past the gate. From here he could see the buildings rise upwards like a mountain, and the paths all winded up that way to the central square and right across the lawn, the brilliant White Castle. Havana's royal castle from this angle looked like the topper to a wedding cake.

Alas, today his destination was not the castle where the princesses lay, but the less than glamorous Victorian library that wore the same speckled grey goblin statues found at the entrance to the White Castle. Nearby and giddily scoping the standing-shack vendors was Dez, mindlessly bartering with merchants with an empty wallet.

"Check out what I got Austin!" Dez said, sauntering up to him with a trinket dangling between his grubby fingers.

"It's a dream catcher." Austin said, not even sparing a glance to what he procured.

"Not just any dream catcher!" Dez cried. "It's a _magic _dream catcher! A wand was cast on it and everything!"

"It's made of yarn and twigs." Austin nudged his shoulder. "Did you forget the real reason why we're here? Come on!" The two climbed the steps of the brown, heavily windowed building, Dez falling a few steps behind just so he could thoroughly inspect if his new dream catcher was phony or not. Austin was met by a rush of cool air and the crisp scent of paper bindings and feather ink. The library shelves stacked up 3 stories tall, and the ceiling had a glass piece of artwork set into the center.

Austin went for the songbooks on the left side of the area. He already knew what he wanted, but he didn't have any time to take it with him last time he was here. He flipped the pages in his face, savoring the tantalizing whiff of fresh paper. He brought it up to the desk where the librarian waited. This was one of the few times he was okay with his nose—the librarian's nose was as long and pointy as a crow's beak, and it had a mole on the left nostril.

"I'll be checking out this one please!" He said, barely able to contain the excitement in his voice.

The librarian peered down at him past her nose. "No _trolls_ are allowed to check out books in this library."

"What!? Why?"

"You must be a citizen to have access to our books."

"But I live right outside the walls!" He protested.

"It does not matter. Trolls are not allowed to take anything out." She snatched the book from his fingers. "And a good thing, too. I hate when slime gets all over my nice books." She sent a disgusted look in his direction before turning away to another part of the desk. Austin groaned and stomped over to Dez.

"Can you believe this? Just because I'm a troll she won't let me use the books! What a crappy system!"

Dez was sitting and petting the feathers to his dream catcher as if they were one of those lap-sitting felines. "It's just a book," he said.

"It's not just any book!" Austin's lips pursed to the side. He jerked one of the doors to the outside open—only to sidestep in surprise as a girl no taller than his shoulder passed like a breeze. He only caught a second of her face, just two fixated dark eyes and long, curly brunette hair that faded into a golden color and swept in her wake as soft as dandelion seeds. He watched the back of her velvet red cloak for a moment as she strode through the shelves and disappeared deep into the back.

Austin blinked and shook his head. Was that an angel that just passed? He told himself no and hurried outside.

Dez didn't notice that Austin had left until a thin paperbound book went _thwak _at the back of his head and slid down his back. "Hey!" he shouted responsively upwards.

One of the assistants was on a ladder up high against the shelves and shushed him. Her pin spelt _Trish _with a frowny face next to it. "Just take it, doof!" She hissed down at him.

Dez took the flimsy book and glanced at the cover. He couldn't read the words, but he recognized the musical instrument on the front and assumed it was a songbook like the one Austin wanted. "What do I do with it?" He whispered.

"Give it to your friend! And don't come back!" She beckoned out the door. "Make haste or I'll turn you into a toad!"

He wasn't sure whether to thank her or run, so he did both!

* * *

Ally was running. The catacombs under the library were familiar, but they were always so dark and creepy and she hated going through this way by torchlight. She nearly missed the turn and skidded her foot to a stop, then turned and took the path. The torch lit cobwebs and rows of unmarked skeleton keys. A shock of cold ran through her as she continued down the narrow corridor. Finally she reached the door, and with a sigh she pushed it open into the comforting lighting of her mother's 'lair', as she calls it.

"Mom! Mom!" Ally excitedly skipped to the cauldron where her mother Penny stood on the opposite side, stirring away and cutting things as she went. The wooden shelves behind her were full of jars of plenty of oddities, from frog legs to salamander eyes and butterfly wings. Ally pulled a book from her velvet red cloak. "Look at the book I found!"

Penny squinted in the dim lighting. "_Compellations of Different Days _by Kevin Kopelow. Alright, I give up. What's so special about this book?"

"It's a song book!" Ally said. Her smile contrasted off her dark eyes. "But some of the songs also double as incantations, and some involve raising trees or capturing hearts or shooting flames from hell, but what I really love is that—"

"Honey, if you want to dabble in black magic, you shouldn't have to rely on a book that contains subtle spells!" Penny inserted in between her babbling.

Ally's expression settled into a grim frown, her lips in a straight line. "You know I can't do that." Her shoulders fell. "I'm…I'm influential, I'm notorious! I can't just—_just_—no, I can't." She bit her lip and ducked her head down, the hood to her cloak covering her eyes. "I'm Havana's…"

"…_Princess_?" Penny finished. "It's not an official title, sweetie. You're only held to the bar because your aunt gave you the title."

"There are certain responsibilities that I have, certain lifestyles that I have to live up to…I can't tarnish my reputation."

"That doesn't mean you can't be your own person!" Penny said, setting her wooden spoon down. "You are a witch! You can be whatever the hell kind of _witch _you want to be! You can be affluent in white magic or black magic, it doesn't matter! _You_ are Ally! No one else is you!"

Ally sighed. "It's easier for you, mom." She muttered. "You can do all the black magic you want down here where no one can see you. I can't do that, not in the castle…black magic is forbidden."

"I find that ridiculous." Penny said, whipping her spoon around. "What's the point in being able to use magic if you're limited to the type? Ally, as your mother, I give you the permission to use whatever kind of magic you want, princess or not. Alright?"

"Right…" Ally said, looking up hopefully. She stared into the cauldron, imagining her powerful aunt's face in the ripples. _You cannot be a user of black magic within the white faction of Havana! _Her aunt's voice echoed. _No princess of the kingdom will represent heathens of destruction! The next time I see you casting blood spells, I'll suck all the blood OUT of you!_

She gently caressed the remaining dark line of skin on her palm where her aunt had struck her.

* * *

In the darker parts of Havana where the castle often casts its shadow were ancient, dangerous neighborhoods. Here Austin often needed to carry some sort of protection, but presently he only wielded the old songbook Dez gave him yesterday. All last night Austin had been consumed in the finesse of the words and the notes of the melodies, but he wasn't one to imagine music in his head as if he had an organ in there. Luckily there was a decently functional organ in an old church in one of those dark Havana streets, and when he arrived at the doors they were already opened a crack as if they were expecting him.

The organ was located at the very end of the hall beyond the altar. The worn brass pipes stretched high towards the colored glass pane of an indiscernible white winged creature, one of tales that Austin never heard of. He made a silent note to ask about that one day. He took a seat at the bench and set the book open on its spine. The page was opened to his favorite song, _Break Down the Walls_.

"Eeeyeah…" He sang, pressing down on the keys. "Stop, hiding out in the shadows…scared to let the world know you exist…" He began slowly, trying to get his fingers to process the notes as fast as he belted out the words. "Don't…lock yourself in the darkness…the world is _so_—" he tried using a higher pitch, but the organ did not agree and played an angry, dirt filled note. "The world is so much brighter than this!" He retried. "_Ugh_! Why is this song so hard to play?!" He exclaimed, beating his fingers on the keyboard in frustration.

He restarted from the beginning, playing only the instrument first. The organ was much harder to play when the keys were small, so sometimes his fat fingers would jam into two keys at a time, making unpleasant noises come out. The organ in his village was more suitable to his large hands. He tried the foot pedals as he played, not really sure if they made any significant differences to the sound. The rest of the keys came out screechy and horrible!

"What the hell!" He groaned and took the book into his hands and read it closer. He hadn't been studying music that long, but he knew he could read these notes…_some_ of them…they were just so tiny in this pocketbook, if only he had a larger print—

A heavy _click_ from the front doors echoed through the hall. Austin's eyes popped open wide. Trolls weren't liked in any part of the kingdom nor in private areas like churches, and he was pretty sure that anyone in the black faction of Havana could easily dispose of him and get away with it. He dove for the long curtains draped against the wall and hid behind them. He could see through a sliver in the curtain who was entering.

It must've been a girl. She wore a floor length dark velvet red cloak with gold embroidering in the hood. Something so extravagant was a bit familiar to him, but he wasn't sure where. Her head was bent down as she scribbled into a wide-leaf booklet—must've been a songbook from the size and thin pages.

"Melody needs work," she muttered, "I'll slow the tempo…change a cord…yep, that should be good." She automatically made her way up the steps and to the bench by the time she was done scribbling. Austin was able to make out her face once she had the book set properly. There was something familiar to those dark eyes…

She strummed the entire scale, getting a feel for the sound.

Now he recognized her! She was the girl who he passed at the library yesterday! She was different then he had expected, she looked soft and delicate…

She played slowly, gently, precisely. The pipes of the organ flowed deep, earthy sounds that felt silky smooth compared to Austin's bumpy car ride. Once she finished the prologue she entered the actual song—Austin's ears perked at the notes—it was _Break Down the Walls_! She was playing the song _he_ was just playing! He opened his songbook to the page and followed along, his eyes recognizing notes that rose like mountains and quelled deep like trenches—

_Ping!_

"No!" Austin blurted at the altered note—he cursed and put his hand over his mouth, but the damage had been done. The music stopped. Through the sliver in the curtain he could see the girl getting up and cautiously stepping his way.

* * *

**P.S. This is mostly an AU, so to those following for Pokemon and were expecting Pokemon, you can still enjoy this story without knowing the show. As for everyone else; just enjoy the show, because I have plans :D. This however is written just for fun, so updates can be frequent or weekly...depending on you readers. **


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
_Secundus_

* * *

Do do do-do, do-do-doodoo_—ping!_

"No!"

Ally's fingers jumped from the piano keys. _There's someone else here?! _No one ever visited this church—it was rotting from the outside in—and there was no telling who could be lurking behind the curtain, where the only place to hide was. She had taken the risk of going to the darker side of the kingdom where the knights didn't patrol. She pulled her obsidian red wand from the left sleeve of her cloak and cautiously stepped towards the curtain where the bulge hesitated…

She stabbed the sliver in the curtain. The tip of her wand met brick.

_Huh? _She pulled back the entire curtain. It was nothing! She was sure she saw gnarly looking feet there a second ago…

She returned to the organ. She didn't feel like playing _Break Down the Walls_ anymore. It didn't match with anything that she was feeling, the anger and mistrust fueling her, the notion that her aunt wanted her to _marry_—

"Your highness!"

Ally paused between the dark ballad she was attempting to strum. One of the envoys from the castle waited nervously in the center of the pews. He wore glittering decorative robes that must've blatantly stood out against the drab and meager conditions of the black faction streets. She spun on the bench to face him.

"What is it?"

"Madam Savona requests your presence at the castle," the envoy fidgeted, unable to handle his own tongue. "S-she doesn't want you h-here at the—the unsafer side of the kingdom—" He withered under Ally's hard eyes. They both knew he didn't have the place to be telling her what she should be doing. She said nothing towards it, although he was sure she would've punished him with magic.

"Let's go then," Ally sighed, picking up her songbook. "I am done here." In a swift movement she was up and down the steps, her footing light and her cloak softly sweeping behind her. When she was gone, a figure hiding under the pews pulled himself from out of there and continued to stare at the door she just exited from, his mouth agape and breath taken away.

"…Wow," The troll whispered.

* * *

Austin walked down the pale dirt path to the forest edge in a daze. He couldn't stop smiling. That girl left an imprint in his mind—the smooth, spiderlike way her fingers tapped the organ keys, the soft, passionate expressions that flashed across her face, those dark, mysterious eyes that held an abyss full of secrets—he wanted to know her. He wanted to know where she came from and what she did besides read and play the organ. He wanted to know if she could teach him.

The only complication he could see was that she was a witch—_err_—crafter, the correct political term to call her. She wasn't wild and reckless like the other crafters he's seen. To his knowledge, she didn't cast any spells. She only took out her wand and probed around for him, but she never caught him. He wondered if she knew he had snuck under the pews when she was inspecting the curtain.

But then—what did the envoy mean by _your highness_? Was she a duchess? A diplomat? There was no way she was a princess, not one that would step into the black faction…

The outskirts of the village was in view as he crossed the rugged _TROLLS ONLY _sign that fell over. He set the stake back up and continued forward, nearing the empty watch tower—it also passed as a kid-friendly tree house since all the weapons had been pilfered from it. His three friends waited for him at the base of the tower. He liked to think that they made up a clan—he, his girlfriend Kira, his best friend Dez, and his off-and-on burly friend, Trent.

"Austin!" Kira cooed as he got closer, bringing her arm around him.

"Dude! Good, you're here! We're about to play a game!" Dez said, looking giddy and excited.

"It's not a game." Trent said in a more serious tone at Austin's confused expression. "We're going _witch targeting_."

_Oh. _Austin felt uneasy about playing that game. It wasn't even a game-it was a cruel prank that ended in some traveler getting robbed. The last time he watched his friends target witches, Dez almost lost a finger and Trent was able to steal a sapphire encrusted throwing dagger and a small sack of Havana gold. Trent loved playing this game the most. He wasn't afraid to put the others at risk and was the fastest one to escape the situation.

Still, Austin didn't want to disappoint his friends by disagreeing. Kira was giving him puppy eyes. The pressure was unbearable.

He sighed and nodded. "Cool. Let's go witch targeting."

* * *

Ally thanked the carriage driver and stepped to the cobblestone. Around her the safety of the white faction swelled like a marshmallow. Unlike the black faction, this side of the kingdom was always clean. Knights patrolled the streets and they broke up fights. The knights were very friendly and always waved to their princess. The best view of the castle was always in the park directly in front of the gates. Ally sighed and smiled at the castle. Sometimes she really wished it _was _hers. She always felt like she was renting it.

She waved to the gatekeeper and passed through the thick golden bars shaped to form two smiling harps when bolted together. Just beyond the winding path, the gardeners were tending to the plants. Vibrant lavender, pink, and tangerine colored trees provided shade to the pathway. Blue flowers curled to reach Ally. The grand front was nearing—she took a left from the polished steps to a wooden, less noticeable door away from the enormous front doors used for special occasions. Ally only had the key to the service entrance.

After a quick trip through a spiraling staircase and a hallway of checkered floors and old paintings, Ally stopped at a mirror and fixed her hair before entering her Aunt Savona's study. It was empty minus her intern, writing away in his small corner of books and potions. She found Savona out on the balcony, writing furiously with her quill pen. The ink dripped off the page close to Savona's shoes.

"You called?" Ally asked, sticking her head out the archway.

Savona did not look up from her letter. "You're late. I called for you urgently."

"The message didn't come across that importantly."

Savona looked up momentarily. "Hn. I guess that's one more envoy to fire…in the kiln." She made a note of that. "Come closer."

Unsure if she was still talking to her, Ally sidled up to her and took the chair against the wall. Her aunt stared passed the stationary to the garden and pathway to the gate at the far left. It was almost scary how young she appeared. Ally assumed she was in her early forties, but her skin was smooth and shiny enough to pass as early twenties. They only looked a few years apart! To think, this was the one woman who outlawed black magic like voodoo…

"Ally," Savona said dryly, breaking her out of her stupor. Ally blinked and nodded. "There is…" her aunt's mouth curled to a sweet smile, breaking the sterile seriousness she wore earlier. "There's someone here for you."

"Don't tell me it's another one of your set ups!" Ally said hysterically.

"Set ups? No…Yeah, it's a play date!" Savona laughed. "You're already aware of your age and suitor status. 18, single, and ready to mingle is not the ideal position princesses should be at." Ally glared at her. "At least give this one a chance, Ally. I don't want to have you available for political negotiations."

"If I don't get married soon, you'll marry me off to someone else?"

"For ammunition," Savona confirmed, flicking off dust from her dress. Ally's hands wished to snap her wand. This was the side of being a parliament-proclaimed princess that sucked majorly—she was only valuable as a prize for a kingdom settlement. It didn't matter if she was kind and generous to her people—she still had to sacrifice herself to save them. There was a lonely pang within her that wondered what it would've been like if she had said no years ago when they nominated her. Would she have been a master of black magic now? Would she have traveled farther than the sun reached and listened to musicians from outer kingdoms? Would she have had the courage to call her aunt…_wicked_?

"I'll greet him," Ally muttered, storming out from the balcony, missing the smirk sent her way. She ignored the intern who waved from his desk and sped to the courtyard at the northeastern side of the castle. All of her future suitors, her matches, her _play dates_, were brought here because it was the most "romantic" atmosphere in the castle, besides the ballroom and the bedroom. This pattern of suitors began when she was 16, but it was a game back then. Meet, play, laugh, find a horrible fault in him, and then send him off to never see him again. Sometimes they were dukes. Sometimes they were travelers. Sometimes they were old, wealthy guys who only wanted a young piece of eye candy on their arms. She's only ever met a few princes.

She was a floor above the courtyard, but through the wide archways she could still see the beautiful blue hue of the pond and the statues that led to it. There was nothing past the wall of the courtyard. It was just a straight fall downwards into an empty, dry canyon. She peered down to the courtyard in search for the visitor.

There—oh dear, he was tall—brunette, stood straight, wore very nice colors. A green blazer, golden epaulets, and one of Ally's favorite classic novels in his hands to finish the look. She bashfully pulled up her cloak's hood and pulled aside one of the handmaids that walking by—Cassidy—and asked, "What's the status quo on him?"

Cassidy looked down while balancing a covered basket on her hip. "Him?…Oh! That's the master scriber's son. He's in line to inherit the grand library and all of the historical records." Ally sucked in a breath of air—he was a collection of knowledge on legs! He must be the most intelligent suitor of them all!

"What's his name?" Ally awaited on toes to hear. She wanted to hear bells.

Cassidy smiled. "It's a lovely name for a future master scriber. His name…is _Dallas_."

* * *

**Hey there! Thanks for returning to the story!**

**There isn't much to say right now; just enjoy the ride and hopefully you don't catch all my tricks before I've laid them out. I'd like to say thank you to to **_queenc1_ **for the review and to the other 3 who've followed the story! :D I'd love to know you guys' thoughts on what's going on, whether it be angry criticism or not. I don't mind! My goal is to frustrate you guys, but don't worry, Auslly is endgame.**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
_Tertius_

* * *

This was troll territory. Austin found it ridiculous that he was feeling so queasy near his own homestead.

_Oh right, _witch targeting. He felt so sorry for the sap they reeled in. Sometimes he just wanted to help the fellows up and dust them off and apologize for all the trouble they've gotten them into. He wasn't a thieving troll. If anything, he was an adorable musical one that liked to dance and cannon ball into shockingly cold waters.

"Caw!" Dez cried from the top of a tree nearby. He was their eye in the sky. He had a strange talent of making convincing bird calls, so it was just a matter of their ears to catch his signal. Kira was distanced a little further than the tree and hidden in the moss of a fallen tree. She used to be the prissy daughter of a soldier and was too proper to hold a sword when Austin first met her, but after a few years of friendship with Trent, she had no trouble getting down and dirty in their plans. It was something Austin admired and was a little disgusted by.

Trent hid behind a large tree in front of Austin's, sharpening his encrusted dagger. On the contrary to Kira, Trent had always been a tough cookie. Even now, Austin wasn't sure whether to trust him or to expect a slit in his throat after a really lame joke. Trent held a bag of gunpowder around his right wrist. Austin had the match and rock.

"Ca_-CAW_!" Dez shrieked.

"It's the signal!" Austin cried, realizing a moment too soon that danger was very, very near.

"Go!" Trent whispered, and sent the bag of gunpowder flying forward, particles spilling out—Austin struck the match and sent the flare off—

_KA__**-BLAAAAAAAAM!**_

* * *

_A spectacular entrance to meet this intelligible stranger is in order—a plume of dust, conjured fireworks, a psychic pull forward! Yes, something amazing to showcase my magical prowess! _

In the end, Ally ended up just sneaking behind the suitor Savona had set up for her to meet in the courtyard and prodded him in the back with her wand until he turned around. On the second poke he spun around in surprise—Ally grinned sheepishly—he blocked out the sun entirely with his height. Curses being born short.

"Hmm?...Who are you?"

"H-hi…" Ally giggled nervously and was tempted to start chewing her hair, but she had to settle for twisting the end strands in hopes of coming off cute. It just wasn't fair—there was something in his eyes, _something _that made him so intimidating! He must've been calculating her, recalling all of his studies of her records, he must be remembering all of her embarrassing faults and screw ups… "I am Ally Dawson, parliament princess."

"Oh!" The young man was pleasantly surprised, and they both bowed out of courtesy. "My name is Dallas—I have no fancy title as yours I'm afraid."

Was he joking? She hoped so, because she had burst into another round of awkward laughter. "Dallas! But you're…you're the master scriber's son! You must know everything there is to know." She added with a bit more confidence.

He nodded, but didn't seem too impressed with himself. "Well—yes, I do have access to everything. I hope you don't mind that I did research on you before coming here." He gave her another piercing look—she managed a smile under it. So he _did _know everything—the perfect marks in primary school, the results of her botanical enchantment competition, the hours she spent as a farm hand that one summer—oh, all just one boring profile to him, wasn't it? She wondered…did any of her black magic infractions show up on the records too?

"That's amazing!" She said, empty now that there was no mystery to herself. But yet, there was so much mystery to _him_. "H—how's your book going? I love _Hamlet_, they make wonderful theatrical adaptions to that in the kingdom…Do you read anything else by Shakespeare? How about Macbeth? Romeo and Juliet? Don't you just love the idea of star-crossed lovers?" She didn't realize she was babbling, already lost in other stories. "Two worlds forbidden, but there's just one _spark—_"

"Actually, I only picked this up at the library." Dallas interrupted.

Ally winced. He just said li-_berry_.

She skipped over the hitch in hopes of interesting him. "What type of magic are you into? I mean, white magic aside, there are a few other branches of black magic that are acceptable—"

"Oh, no." He said. "I'm purely into the white arts. I cannot _stand _anything other. Black magic is blasphemous, and any crafter of the sort deserves to be hung on the spot."

"O-oh," She probably shouldn't mention that she knew a few black spells for protection. She shouldn't mention that her botanical studies were also a ruse to her voodoo studies as well. She shouldn't explain the scar on her palm that she was rubbing.. "So you know the trolls outside the kingdom borders? I'm thinking of suggesting to Madam Savona to reestablish contact with them—"

Dallas tossed his head to the side and scoffed. "The trolls are _disgusting_. They're brutes."

Ally's arms fell. "…They're people without a voice."

"I've read in the _lie-berry_ that trolls are thick in the muscles and not the head. They wouldn't have the ability to form a voice on their own." His eyes narrowed at her. "_Why _are you defending them? Do you have troll in your blood?"

Ally frowned. She could place that sharp look in his eyes now—it was the look of the stupid and ignorant. He obviously didn't have any intelligent thoughts to muster—he couldn't even pronounce library correctly! He was a classic, stubborn, one trick pony if anything. She could understand his hatred for black magic, but insult trolls like that—_no!_

"Err—excuse me princess," Cassidy inched her way between the two. "You're needed. An explosion went off near the edge of troll territory."

Ally smiled towards her gratefully. "Oh dear…I should go and investigate, shouldn't I?"

Dallas looked at her strangely. "Why must you go? Surely there are other people who could investigate what those heathens are doing."

Ally spun her obsidian red wand in her hand and snapped it in the air—it flashed into a broom version of itself. "That does seem like the smart thing to do, right?" She hiked a leg over the broom as it levitated from the stone floor. "But you see, those heathens are _my _people, and as their princess I vowed to protect those who do not have a voice...or strength to fight for themselves."

She and her broom jetted upwards into the sky, disappearing into white thick clouds, leaving Cassidy and a stunned Dallas behind. Ally sighed as she steered. Another faulty suitor dismissed. She was beginning to wonder if her prince was ever to be found. If he wasn't inside her kingdom, then where was he?

* * *

The thinly forested area around the main road to Havana was up in flames. Trent and Kira were running through the destruction and cackling with laughter. Dez's call was a false alarm, but neither cared—the trees were up in smoke! Black birds were escaping into the sky with mourning cries! Dez was mimicking the bird cries as he ran through, too reckless to realize that his tunic was on fire.

Austin caught up with Trent—they were just running from the fire, and it could reach the village! "Trent, this isn't cool!" Austin said. "We need to put out this fire before some crafters show up!"

Trent craned his neck up and laughed. "Don't be such a cry baby! That's the whole reason we set this damn place up in flames!"

"_CAW-ka-CAW!_" Came Dez's cry up ahead.

Kira was up further. "A witch is coming our way on her broomstick!"

Trent smirked and caught up with her, leaving Austin behind in the heat. "Just on time."

Austin skirted around the growing fire, choosing not to jump into it as Trent did—he suddenly heard a girl scream—it wasn't Kira—coins fell on the ground in a _ching! _and Trent screamed—louder—and in distress, and when Austin darted through the trees and onto the path, he realized that they had ticked off the wrong witch.

The witch in the red velvet cloak that had breezed through the library, the witch who had strummed _Break Down the Walls _earlier today—she had Trent in her hold and held his encrusted sapphire dagger up to his throat. Her bag of coins and wand lay scattered across the road where Trent had pushed it. The sweet and passionate face Austin had recalled was now angry and aghast at their handiwork.

"Stand back!" She cried—somewhat uneasily, her wand was out of reach—and her dark eyes locked to Austin's—no recognition. Austin looked between Trent and the witch…stuck between his annoying clan mate and his undeniably growing crush.

* * *

**This will be the last of the frequent updates for the weekend. I've got to write and plan ahead! The next update should be Wednesday or Friday if you're still interested. Don't forget to give me feedback on whatever you like or don't like! :P**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter Four

_Last time we left our heroine, she was defending herself against four trolls who ambushed her from the woods, and there was one with warm brown eyes and a crop of golden hair.._

* * *

Chapter Four  
_Quartus_

* * *

"_Stand back!_" Ally cried. The three adolescent trolls stood five steps in distance, momentarily glancing every so often at the one she had in her clutches. She couldn't have put herself in a worst situation—she wasn't a fighter, and the paralyzation spell she cast on the big troll to hold him down could falter at any moment. She needed her wand—her eyes flickered towards it, too far to reach for—then back at the trolls, everyone frozen.

She knew she couldn't take on four adolescent trolls at once. They all were unarmed, but the two guys had enough muscle to compensate. The one on the right had a strange, oblong face and tough, red hair that could break a hairbrush. The girl in the middle didn't look as horrible as most trolls would, but she did have a particularly large tooth on the left side of her mouth that cornered all her ugliness.

The troll on the left had an expression of worry. He seemed to be pointing it at her, but Ally didn't see any reason for that. There was nothing positive about his looks—his right shoulder was slightly higher than the left, his skin was spotted with gross warts and shingles, and there was a bump right above his left eye that made his eye look swollen. His blonde outburst of hair was kempt more than his friend. The only thing she could really say was handsome about him was that nose…and those soft, small lips you wouldn't expect on a hazardous creature..

She shook her head, realizing that they were stepping closer. "Stand back!" She repeated with more force. "I—I know voodoo!"

"Put down our friend!" The blonde one pleaded, his eyes warm and infinitely forgiving. "We don't mean for trouble!"

"_Trouble_!?" She scoffed, recalling what Dallas had said earlier—_they're thicker in the muscles than in the head_! "If trouble isn't setting a forest on fire for no reason, then what is?" She shouted, all of her anger pointed at him. "It is how you pass time? Is it just for _fun_? Arson is _fun _to you?" None of this was registering to their faces and she couldn't believe it, they were so _stupid_! Were there _any _thoughts running through their heads? "Maybe I was wrong!" She said, "Maybe trolls deserve what crafters put them through!"

The blonde one stepped forward, suddenly looking very offended and surprised. "You think we deserve living like we're exiled? You think we deserve the random plagues and ransacks?"

Ally glared at him and tightened her grip on the dagger she held against the bigger troll. "You attacked me for my _money_!"

The girl in the middle crossed her arms with a sassy expression. "We can't all be ugly ass _crafters_, ya know."

Ally's spell stuttered in that second—the troll she was holding heavily pushed her aside, she dropped the dagger and scurried for her wand—the bigger troll neared his friends and pointed the dagger at Ally, and she in turn poised her wand—

"Stop Trent! This isn't a fight we can win! She knows voodoo!" said the blonde troll, holding back his friend by the shoulders. The hand that held Ally's wand trembled.

"That _wasn't _voodoo!" Trent declared, inching closer. "She's a liar! She's a low leveled _witch_!

They knew. They all knew. Ally had to escape before she got seriously hurt. She surveyed her options, her eyes darting back and forth—Trent started running forward and screaming—

"_Rogum!_" Ally shouted—a river of heat flowed through her arms before expelling through the tip of her wand, a ring of light flashed forth before EXPLODING—_fwish, _a plume of fire burst between she and the trolls, and she turned on her heel and started running. Not before long she could hear their clambering footsteps and shortened breath behind her—Trent and the red head were chasing her, and it was clear that they were faster than she. The castle walls were still so far away. Something heavy settled in her stomach and she recited, "_Terra impellerem!_"

The earth beneath the two trolls' feet sucked away and they fell into a six foot trench. Ally kept going, knowing it wouldn't keep them back for long. She grimaced—she had failed at an attempt at controlling one of them, and now the repercussion was that her own blood was spilling from the open wounds on her hands. The walls were only a little further up the hill.

"HYUH!" came a grunt—Ally screamed, something sharp sliced through her cloak and right in her shoulder—Trent's sapphire encrusted dagger landed just in front of her as her hand flew to the cut. She turned around—Trent was running for her again, gaining on the hill—

She ran the remaining way, and just as she got in the view of the gatekeeper she waved her arms—the knights at the gates saw the troll coming after her and ran to her rescue with their swords—Trent stopped, seeing their long swords and armor coming towards him. He turned back around and fled to troll territory. Ally could hardly stand with her legs so tired. She hid her bloody hands from the knights and thanked them.

Once on the other side of the wall, Ally sat on the ground and laid her back against it. She threw her head up and sighed. She was _this _close to using black magic in front of the white faction walls. She would've faced more punishment than what those trolls could've dealt. She held her cloak against her eyes to soak up the tears and blood. She felt no protection.

She might as well have been a rogue princess. She didn't deserve her title. She had recklessly wandered into troll territory just to escape a suitor. In the end, it wasn't worth it. She felt her wand, still warm from use, in her palms. _Why didn't I fly out? _She wondered, smacking herself in the head for slow thinking.

Her thoughts moved to the trolls. There was only one that didn't hurt her in any way. The one with the kind brown eyes and goofy blonde hair and least disfigured features…

_Even so, Dallas was right_. Ally thought. _Most trolls are barbaric and daft…all but that blonde one._

* * *

The witch targeting had gotten way out of hand.

The section of forest that they had burned was in ruins. Branches were brittle and black in contrast to the bright brown and orange they had once been. Leaves, once abundant and fluffy and green, were now black and shriveled and crunched under Austin's feet. He hated what they had done. They had lured the witch that he had seen play the organ, and had witnessed a whole different side of her.

The crafters they had pillaged before we not as powerful. They couldn't conjure fire like she had done. The crafters he was expecting were the ones who could heal themselves with homemade ointments or would flash talismans at them, convinced that it could ward off evil. Those were lesser crafters. Instead, they ticked off a powerful young diplomat in a velvet cloak.

And oddly, he was even attracted to her power and the restraint of it all.

"Austin!" Kira followed behind him as he trekked through the damaged forest. He was heading back to the center where their homes were. "What's the big deal?" She asked, aware of his angry feelings.

"We shouldn't have done that." He said. "That crafter was dangerous."

"She thought the same thing about us!" She replied. "But guess what—she left her gold!" She victoriously lifted the bag of coins to his face.

He turned away. "We should return it."

"No way." She said. "If that witch wants her gold back, she'll have to pry it out of my dead hands."

"With her power, it might just end up that way." He muttered under his breath. His eyes softened when her shoulders slouched. He knew he shouldn't be talking to her like that. "Sorry." He said. They passed the tree that Austin had been hiding near earlier—he looked around, searching for the songbook that he had planted prior to the fire. The fire had scorched this side of the forest too—he had a bad feeling that there weren't any salvageable remains left.

There—it had fallen on the ground and was black, lost deep within fallen branches. He pulled it out—black soot fell off like sand, and he leafed through it—the pages were tough now, and black had eaten through the yellow pages. None of the songs were legible anymore. The front was completely gone. There was only half of a page of _Break Down the Walls _left. Only one song remained completely intact with only a little of the page corner burned.

"_Far, beyond these castle walls where I thought I heard Tiresias say…"Life is never what it seems, and every man must meet his destiny_."…" Austin looked over to Kira. "Do you think it applies to trolls too?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Who cares? All those songs are witch things. We don't need it." She hugged him from behind and took the blackened book from his hands. "I'll get rid of this for you, alright? You need to get your mind off of the witches." She let go of him and looked in the direction of Havana Kingdom where the white border walls did not welcome them. "That society of witches is just too mountainous for you to reach."

As Kira left with his songbook, Austin pushed past the trees to the road where he could see a clear path to the border walls of Havana. The white side from the black side was so clear from here. They were two warring sides and the trolls were getting the brunt end of it. He squinted to the top border of the kingdom where he could barely make out the outlines of the white castle.

Somewhere past those white walls was the girl who he wanted to meet, to get to know…the one he longed to touch the mysterious scars of.

* * *

**Hey! Thanks again for returning! I've got a lot of projects due plus graduation to worry about in the next month so updates have been shifted to weekly, most likely on Saturday or Sundays. I like to stay a chapter ahead of the game, so hopefully I can get more written before the week is up. :D**

**Thanks again to all who read and review! Don't be afraid to give me your criticism. You can tell me which parts bore you and which parts you loved so I can make the next chapter all the more awesome! Also, long reviews are golden. I don't really know what to reply with to reviews who only say 'Update'...:P**

**Thanks for reading!**

**P.S., the song that Austin was reading was a line from 'Castle Walls' by Styx. Disclaimer intended.**


	5. Chapter Five

_Last time, Ally collided with a clan of adolescent trolls with a violent escape, only to remember the figure with the brown eyes.._

* * *

Chapter Five  
_Quintus_

* * *

"Hurry Trish…hurry!"

"Hold on hold on! I can only sew so fast!"

Ally couldn't help it—she was nervous! She always hated attending hearings with the parliament. It was so boring! All they talked about was law and economy and magic and…oh, it could put her to sleep pretty easily if she wasn't able to sneak a book in her cloak.

Yet, she only had one cloak—the dark red one with the golden thread embellishments that she had received at her coronation at 13—and it was ripped at the arm from last week's incident with the trolls. She couldn't go to the meeting with a ripped cloak. It simply wasn't done!

Trish really could only sew so fast with the needle. She wasn't skilled in it either, but she had more experience from her thousands of other failed jobs and Ally was more willing to risk Trish's fingers than her own. Trish sighed, stopping midway.

"This is boring!" She said, leaning back in her chair.

Ally prodded her shoulder. "Come _on_! You know I can't let anyone else help, or they'd ask about how it happened!"

Trish reached back to pull her curly black hair off her neck and continued looping the needle and string through the red arm of the material. "What _did _happen?"

"I told you already," Ally insisted, falling into the same lazy position as her friend. "I wanted to get away from Dallas so I flew outside of Havana…was ambushed by a big troll…held my own for a good few minutes while his friends tried to gang up on me, I scared them off, ran, and the guards saved me."

"You forgot about the troll with the blonde hair," Trish pointed out.

"Oh yeah, and the blonde troll. He didn't hurt me like the others did. He's got a good heart." Ally smiled secretly to herself. "Honestly…I can't get his voice out of my head."

Trish tossed the fixed cloak at Ally's head. "Well get him out of your head now, alright? You're about to face ten of the most powerful people in Havana."

Ally pouted and patted down her hair, having gotten messed up by the soft fabric of her cloak. "But how can I? He threw out his whole world…the same one I had defended against Dallas." She thought back to the troll. If only she knew his name…she hated calling him a troll. He was more than his species. He was a person, one with thoughts and hopes and dreams…

"_Ally_!" Trish said after a moment of thoughtful silence. Ally snapped out of it and stood up, pulling her cloak over her white corset.

"Right! I need to get my head out of the gutter. I'll probably never see him ever again." She tucked her wand into the sleeve of her cloak. "I'm one of Havana's princesses! I shouldn't dawdle my thoughts on a commoner of troll territory." She left for the conference room elsewhere in the castle, but Trish remained on the couch with her thread and needle and shook her head at her friend.

"Leave it to Ally to be interested in someone covered in slime and warts." She muttered, cringing.

* * *

The conference hall was packed with crafters all throughout the kingdom. The council member who would speak and lead discussions would stand in the center of the room in full view of the crowd. The others sat in key positions of the circle in the bottom rows. From there and upwards were the rest of parliament, nobles, and highly respected visitors. Commoners and villagers who lived outside the walls were lucky to find a seat in the nose bleed section by the time the processions began.

"Friends, esteemed visitors and gentlemen…" Aunt Savona spoke in a loud, rolling voice that eventually made Ally's eyelids heavy. She opened her botanical studies book and began doodling in it. She was aware that Dallas was near the top of the bleachers across the room, but she made no movements to look up at him. This conference was dreadful as is, and she was greatly hoping that she wouldn't be called to speak in front of all these eyes. "Ally," Savona's voice woke her.

Ally jolted, startled, and stood up automatically. "Present!" She said—then realized that all the observers had gone and the two were the only ones left in the room. The conference must've been over. "Oh—sorry." She said.

"It's on you to have missed important information like that." Savona said, eyeing her with a sort of disgust—Ally stood still, wondering what about her had called for this surprise inspection. Did she see the thread in her cloak? Of course Trish did a shoddy job..

"I was listening!" Ally protested. "Now, was there something you needed?"

Savona's hard expression fell. "Ah. I was just going to inquire on your suitor status."

"….Oh. Well, Dallas is nice and all, but we don't match. Not much to talk about I'm afraid."

"Really? He's got an extensive collection of books."

"That certainly doesn't excuse his lack of brains." Ally drawled, finding herself laughing. "I'll find someone else, okay?"

"I have another candidate in mind." Savona added, leaning on the carved half wall separating them.

"I don't want any more of your suggestions!" Ally shouted, throwing her arms into the air—her cloak sleeves slipped down to her elbows. Her aunt immediately grabbed her exposed arms, squeezing so tight with her sharp nails that she almost drew blood. Her aunt yanked down her arms, her eyes pointed at the strange red squiggles and marks that were halfway healing.

"WHAT is _this_!?" She hissed, throwing back Ally's arms. Ally coveted them to her chest, hiding them.

"I—I cut myself picking roses for my mom," Ally said quickly. "You know how she is—get the finest ingredients for her batch of healing ointment."

"Oh? Last time I checked thorns don't make _pattern trails_!" Her aunts words echoed against the ceiling and rang back through her ears.

"I promise I wasn't casting blood spells." Ally whispered. "I would never go against you."

Her aunt's eyes were dark and screamed anger. She stormed out of the room, leaving the implication that she didn't believe her. Ally sighed and lied back down in her warm seat. Of course she had been practicing, and nothing was going right. She felt drained and teetering off the edge to an abyss. Maybe she should stop. But it was so addicting, like that adrenaline rush against the trolls…

She wished her aunt had been distracted by the sewn cloak instead.

* * *

"Look Austin, more enchanted dream catchers!" Dez said, compelled towards a crafts booth covered completely by hanging dream catchers and their feathers.

Austin follow automatically as he scanned the kingdom square. Havana was holding its pre-winter harvest festival and the entire square was full of sweet, vitalizing smells of this season's crop like sweet potatoes, squash, and warm, rubbery mushrooms. They'd only been here for a good hour and Austin found himself carrying three bags full of Dez's groceries.

"So do we need anything else?" Dez asked, looking around. There were few trolls among the square, and knights were surveying the produce stands and customers extensively. "We do need to be back soon."

"I'm looking for someone." Austin said, his eyes flickering through the crowd.

"Who?"

"…A girl in a red cloak." He replied unsteadily. He didn't want Dez to know who exactly he was looking for considering the incident a few weeks ago.

Dez scanned the same area that Austin had looked at earlier past the center of the square. Seventy percent of the crowd was dressed in dark, drab colors like black, brown, caramel, and white. Occasionally he saw a dark green. "Red, huh? Just leave it to the _love whisperer_."

"One—you've never successfully landed a girl by _whispering_—and two, what does love have to do with finding the girl in the red cloak?"

Dez ignored him and faced the other way towards the castle. In the back area of the square across the sandwich deli, a makeshift stage sat and diplomats in their grand robes and cloaks were beginning to set up. "Does this red cloak have yellow patterns and symbols? Like…maybe a crown in the back?"

"Yeah, that's it!" Austin said, stupefied. "Did you find her?"

Dez grabbed Austin's free arm of groceries and pulled him through the maze of people, nearly knocking a woman over but definitely losing her bread roll to the cobblestone. Just as they were nearing the front of the crowd to the stage, harmonious blares of trumpets cackled in the air, followed by applause from all around. Dez and Austin shoved to the front, but on second thought, meekly hid behind a few crafters in the first row of the audience.

There she was—the girl! The girl in the red cloak! Austin was relieved to find that she appeared perfectly healthy and unscratched like Chinese porcelain. He was afraid that Trent had finished her. She stood perfectly erect, but was still short behind the podium. With her hood down he was finally able to see the sparkles in her eyes and the dimples in her smile, but he knew that she shared this with her people—the crowd—not just him. There was a nervous air around her, but she tried to ignore it and waved her hands down to mute the chatter.

"Good evening everyone!" She said, projecting her voice far beyond the fountain in the center of the square. "My name is Ally and I am your parliament princess!" The crowd shouted in adoration of her and she couldn't help but laugh and crack a smile. Austin felt the connection between them shatter—right now she was radiant, popular, and wealthy. All this time he thought they were in the same leagues. She'd never like a guy like him now—much less talk to him. He wondered then at the organ—was that a sincere, secret side of her or the public side that she shared with everyone?

Dez turned his head in confusion. "Weird, she looks familiar…"

"She's a princess." Austin said in a breath, hardly able to hold his words. "O-of course she's familiar."

"No, not that…" Dez trailed off, still squinting and rubbing his chin. "It was somewhere out of Havana…"

Ally continued her prepared speech. "As autumn comes to a close, I would like to thank everyone for the reigning peace between Havana and the outer troll villages." There was something in her face as she said these words that hinted that she was hiding something. "Now raise your wands to the sky!" As she pulled out her obsidian red wand from her sleeve, she locked eyes with Austin in the crowd—

Dez gasped—"It's _her_!"

Ally stared at Austin gravely, almost as if a mix of fear, curiosity, and surprise were swirling in her eyes. She broke contact and pointed her wand at the sky. Behind her the parliament followed her lead, and all around them Austin saw the rest of the crafters holding their wands skyward.

"Come on," Austin said quickly, ushering Dez deep into the crowd. For a brief moment Ally had glanced back at the spot in the crowd where she had spotted him—a bashful look crossed her face—but then the millions of voices in the crowd all cheered one word, and all at once orbs of light shot from the tips of their wands into the sunset and burst—_Shoom! Crack!_—fireworks in red and blue and yellow gleamed across the sky, intermixing into beautiful particles of purple and green and orange.

Austin and Dez hurried to the gates, the fireworks exploded behind them.

"What happened?" Dez cried, confused to why they were running.

"I—…we need to get back to the village before the baptism!"

"What about the princess?"

"Forget her!" Austin said carefully as they crossed the gates and the observation tower. "She's in a totally different world! We are not crafters Dez, we are _trolls_!"

Dez paused briefly, creating a distance between them, and bobbed his head like a thinking bird. "…What's so bad about being a _troll_?"

* * *

It was nightfall by the time Austin and Dez returned to the village, and the fireworks from earlier had long since left smoky trails in the sky. Austin could still hear the music and see Ally's smile. He tried purging it out of his mind—think of Kira, think of Kira. But Ally always outshined Kira.

The center field of Talquin village had already been set up with the baptismal bonfire and the congregation of observers were seated on mossy logs. Among them Austin recognized the Starr clan next to Trent's small family of lone trolls. Dez's strange family lined the back rows. Austin's parents sat near the center, closest to the bonfire, and everyone turned their heads to the late comers.

"…We're here." Austin announced sheepishly, raising a bag of festival groceries.

"You're nearly late." Jimmy Starr, the head of the Starr clan and Kira's father, said. Austin gulped. "You know that we do not tolerate disrespect like this." Jimmy said.

"I'm aware, and I'm sorry." Austin ducked his head and took a seat on the cold forest floor behind his parent's log. No one would speak with him. Jimmy cleared his throat and brought a small wrapped item from within his clan to the center near the bonfire for everyone to see. He unwrapped the blanket so that a small, lime green head was visible.

Austin let his mind wander during the ceremonies—he wondered, how many people did Ally know? Did she already have her prince? Did she associate with trolls? How did she feel about them in general? When she was in the middle of the incident last week, wasn't she using black magic? Was she breaking sacred Havana law by using black magic against them, and if she did, would being a princess grant her pardon? Why did she leave the castle in the first place?

There were so many things he questioned, and he always wondered whether it was fate or just dumb luck that he saw the same girl in one day.

The baby's cry startled him out of his thoughts—holy water was poured over its head and the baptism was complete. Then—the torch lights went out from a strong current of wind, and there were screams—the baby's cry became louder, ringing through Austin's ears as if it were so close he could touch it, until suddenly it vanished.

Trolls around him were screaming and panicking. In the confusion, his spot on the ground ended up tripping a lot of people.

"Where's the baby!?" screamed someone from the Starr clan.

"There's a crafter among us! Someone strike a match!" screamed Jimmy. Another cold gust of wind crept under Austin's vest and he shuddered—he glanced at the dark blue sky. Just briefly he saw something cross against the glow of the moon—someone flying, he thought—

He stood, feeling something stabbing him in the arm. He felt through his vest and found a broom bristle.

Dez lit a lamp and held it upwards like a beacon. The baby troll was gone.

…

The crafters manning the watch tower outside the Havana walls narrowly missed the shrouded figure in the sky. He used one arm to steer and one arm to hold a precious, stolen package. With a smirk and a quick glance back at Talquin village, Elliot flew to his chamber in an eerily secluded, black section of the white castle.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I'm actually falling behind on writing so I hope you're enjoying so far. Plot thickens! Do we have a villain now? Perhaps we've had one all along..**

**Thanks for reading and please share comments! :D**


End file.
